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So I got out today to do a detail on my GT. Did a pretty thorough interior detail, but was only able to hand wash the exterior and polish up the wheels and tires. No clay or wax today, but that will be coming this spring/early summer. All the pics were with my phone (camera battery was dead) but at least I was able to get a couple decent shots with the new wheels and tires. I really am enjoying them. They are quite a bit different from the couple styles I was considering, but I think they compliment the car nicely.

Anyways on to the pics!!!

And one from my in-laws house. Felt nice driving the car after the detail, but I had to wipe it down when I get back home as it was already getting covered in pollen!

This product sounds interesting and has gotten some pretty solid reviews. A company called Nanoskin makes a towel (and pads that attach to a rotary) that seems to make clay bars obsolete. Basically the microfiber towel has one side covered in a unique polymer that removes contaminants the same way a clay bar does.

The advantages? How about getting up to 80 uses from one towel. It's also washable.

The downside? It's not cheap (runs about $50). Then again good clay bars aren't cheap and don't last this long and are harder to work with.

I like keeping my black 2010 gls as clean as possible yet every time I look under the hood, it drives me crazy looking at all the dirt yet I've heard not to wash the engine but I don't want to ruin anything. does anyone have any advice on how I can safely get the engine looking new again? thanks for any input you guys may have!!

This is a 2007 4 Cylinder Hyundai Tucson with 89,000 miles on the clock.

My inlaw is a heavy smoker (NEVER ROLLS WINDOWS DOWN!!!)I had to use straight up engine degreaser to strip the nicotine from it. Then wash the interior and then detail it and then wash the outside down.

I need to grab more interior shots. Wish I took before shots, thing had nicotene drippings!!! FUCKING DRIPPINGS!

I've always said a shiny, well detailed ride is one of the best "head turning mods" around. In the past we've had many different detailing contests. This time around it will be based on two things. Exterior detailing and interior detailing. No worries about the engine compartment this time around.

To enter, (do not add your entry in this thread) send the following to me at elantragt_02@yahoo.com ...

Well, after horribly destroying my CAI... (I tried wrapping it in Peel and Seal.... NEVER try this at home folks!) I stripped it all over, cleaned it, and repainted it. Finally built a good bracket for it so it wouldn't move..

Also decided to repaint all my red stuff the right way with the right paint (high temp engine primer, paint, and clear coat) to match the intake manifold.

Also discovered the beauty of Mothers Metal Polish. Wow. Such amazing stuff... I'm going to polish my exhaust manifold cover (shut up) with it (see pic for what it will look like- did a little section!) and also... I'll be polishing my AC lines with it (again, shut up!). Don't hate. I like my engine bay clean .

Last, I'll be pulling out any rusty brackets and painting them with POR 15 before coating them them Ebony Black paint (OEM body color). My goal is to try and make the engine bay look as new as possible.

After that... will likely be pulling the front bumper off and removing the subframe to paint with POR 15. There isn't much rust at all... but the car did spend 7 years in central NY (salt). By the end of the summer, I intend for my ride to be as good as new! (mechanically, it already is )

Hey everyone... my apologies for not being around much. Haven't had time.

After not washing my car in several weeks, I finally set aside some time for the car. I started by getting all the old pinstriping off the car. What a pain in the ass. Next, I washed the car and clayed it with a Meguiar's kit. That was day #1 (took me several hours to get the pinstriping off). Next day, got the DA out after following AV's example. Used Meguiar's compound, polish, and black wax. Took about 6 hours to get all three coats done. Waiting for my Klasse to arrive for the final coat... also used Meguiar's metal polish on the wheels.

Haven't had any time for the interior, but got the engine cleaned/waxed. I can honestly say, aside from some bodywork I need to do... my car hasn't looked this good in years. Car has 181,000 miles and spent most of its life in central New York... Enjoy the pics!

I have three different types of pads for the DA... and I'll use each one respectively with the different compounds.Question: Do I need to add any steps? Can I "skip" wax and go right to the glaze or do I need to apply wax as well? It seems a little redundant.

No entry yet, because I've been holding off for what's inside this box:[attachment=4773:DSC_3839.jpg]

Let's remove the contents:[attachment=4774:DSC_3840.jpg]

BAM! DAS6 Pro Dual Action polisher! 850 watts of oscillating, paint-correcting power, and 3 different Menzerna polishes. Couple of pads on backorder, but me no care right now. Also a pad-cleaning brush.

[attachment=4775:DSC_3843.jpg]

Slightly nervous about using this, although I know being a DA makes it hard to stuff it up. Because of the current condition of the paint (swirls everywhere) my plan is to start with the PF2500 and finish with with SF4000 (these here). Thoughts? Also, would this work for buffing?

Saw this revolutionary method of painting and wanted to share. I think I'm going to go for it and make the car of my dreams come to life, for as the Polish proverb states: " 'One must take care of themselves!' said the mountain man as he tied his shoe with a worm."

So I woke up this morning feeling great. I took the weekend off and it was just an absolutely beautiful one at that. Mid to high 70's and sunny both days. I started the day by replacing the blinds in our living room. Our old ones had broken this past week so it was a much needed fix. Then I took the kiddos down to one of the parks here and let them enjoy the weather for a while. After I put my 3 y/o down for a nap it was time to get started on my spring cleaning for my GT. After several hours of washing, polishing vacuuming and cleaning she was all done. Now I did put a coat of wax on tonight, but these pics are before that. It was so nice getting into a clean car. I think she shines better now than when I drove her home from the dealership. The only downside is I realized I had a little road rash on both of my passenger side wheels. Must've knicked a curb at some point and didn't realize it. Nothing too bad, but I now know its there! Well on to the pics:

My wife has a 2003 ElantraGLS that we bought new in 2003. The car is in great shape with just 86K on it. In the last year I have started to notice rust on more 02' and 03' Elantras My wife's car is still rust free and I wanted to do what I can to keep it that way. I purchased a product called inner frame coating from Eastwood. Yesterday the weather was good so I decided to do her car. I drilled several small holes in the rear door jams to spray the rear qtrs. the Eastwood product comes with a small tube that attaches to the spray can with a multidirectional end. First I sprayed inside the rear qtrs and down in front of the rear wheels. You can tell it is working because the excess runs out of the dran holes. I was about to drill several holes along the rocker panel. I looked under the car to find the drain holes. When I did I found several rubber plugs in the rockers. All I had to do was pop a couple of plugs out and then insert the tube into the rocker and spray away. I also inserted the hose into the door drain holes and sprayed inside all four doors. I did both sides in a little under two hours. When I was on the ground I found some dirt and leaves sticking out the bottom of the front right fender. I removed the two screws on the bottom of the fender and two screws on the mud flap. I was able to pull out the bottom of the fender and use a small paint brush to get up in there and remove a ton of old leaves, twigs, and dirt from that area. Luclkily there was no rust in either side. If you have an 02-05 or so you might want to check that area. I will warn you that the rust preventer can get messy. I used old blankets to lay under the car to catch the runout from the panels. Any overspray can be wiped off with brake cleaner or lacquer thiner. When I was finished I put little plastic panel plugs into the holes I drilled and the job was done. I have done the same thing to my 2000 Jeep cherokee and 2004 Mazdaspeed Miata and both are still rust free. Thats saying something living in Cincinnati Oh. They put tons of salt on the roads for every 1/2 in.of snow that falls.

As the title indicates, tomorrow I have a young fellow coming to my house to detail my Elantra. This young man has detailed my wife's car a couple of times and he does a great job. Since I travel a lot the interior of my car looks more like the back of a garbage truck than the front of a daily driver, I told him that I would get the trash out of the car, however, he stated that was part of his job. My main complaint with this young man is that he never seems to charge enough to pay for his supplies, time and effort to do a good job and I have always paid him a fair amount more than he has ever asked for. My question to all here is, what do you think is a fair price for a person to come to your house, detail your car inside and out to include washing the car, using a clay bar, placing a primary coat of polish and a final coat of wax on the exterior. Cleaning and shampooing the interior to include windows and all interior. I am interested in what you think is a fair price as I stated he always quotes a stupid price like $40 and I always end up at least doubling it if the work is done very well. Please respond as since it is the holidays I intend to give him $100. Did I mention that this young man is (at the age of 17) one of the hardest working most decient kids I have ever met?

Sup everybody. today im giving Krome a nice detail cuz hes about to hit the 11,000 mile mark. i popped the frpnt seats to vaccum all the yuckies that get trapped down there between stuff. its very easy. you dont need to rempve the battery because you dont need to unplug amything down there. with the four 14 mm bolts out you have more then enough room to lean the seat back and forward without having to take it out of the car. the tep rear bolts are just under little plastic covers.

So Eric and I had a hard time keeping Cameron our cat off of our cars. His litterbox is in the garage and at night he likes the heat from the engines.Being anal about our cars, he googled how to keep him off. Someone suggested hoods up for a bit:

Feel free to move this to DIY, Appearance, Exterior Modding or Off Topic.....this has too many possibilities.

I have a tan interior in my 2013 Elantra and was wondering if anyone knew of a good upholstery cleaner for general dirtiness and if there's a way to remove a piece of dried up chewing gum from the back seat. (Kids!)

Does anyone else have trouble getting their windshield/back windshield "smear" free or completely clean (on the inside of the car) I'm not sure whether the windshield protection that I got on the car is causing this to be such a battle or what. I actually purchased a specific tool to clean the windshield "really good"...it's been raining all day so I have yet to see if it helped. Does anyone have any suggestions to help me be able to actually see while driving?!

Every Friday I get off early from my college classes, so I decided to make it my wash day for Serenity. I usually take my time on Serenity and spend about an hour and thirty minutes having one-on-one time. The results are just beautiful, keep in mind I don't go as far as some others like using clay bars and other detailing products.

Be prepared for a lot of pictures. :3

Here's the products I use for every session, except for the interior detailing spray.

I love reflections

Love how the silver paint shows off Serenity's sexy curves.

No food or drinks allowed in Serenity, I like keeping her showroom clean on the inside. I vacuum the carpets every friday because I track in a lot of grass and dirt from walking around campus all day.

Last picture, guys and gals. The Glorious 40 mpg number, which I got without eco mode. I don't like how it kills Serenity's peppy attitude.

A few weeks ago there was a hit and run on my 2008 Elantra. Fortunately someone else left me a note with the plate of the car who hit me. So that person wound up having to have their insurance pay. Anyway I got my car back the day before yesterday. Yesterday I walk out and I have a flat! hah, I think I ran over a screw on the way home from the shop as my tire pressure light went on while I was driving home Anyway - I fixed the flat. At the same time I noticed the flat I noticed a paint chip on my hood! Not sure if it was there before, and the shop didn't touch the hood at all. Their work looked great so perhaps I just noticed the chip now because I was looking at my car more thoroughly. What a pain!

Anyway is this bad enough to warrant repair? It doesn't bother me too much but I don't want it to rust...

Took the day off and cleaned up my car so I could get some decent pics. It was just a beautiful day and was great to spend some time outside as opposed to sitting at a desk. Also detailed my wife's Entourage which was in despertate need of a cleaning. I also removed the dealer sticker on the back (which was a pain), but haven't taken off any of the other badges yet as I ran out of time. The best part about it is I got some great models to pose in a few of the pics. Enjoy the pics!

"Yo man what up"

Both the GT and Entourage looking all shiny!

Look, he's using his turn signal!

I can't believe how big she's getting.

Panaramic roof

Dash

Interior

And one of my favorites. . . haha I got photo bombed on this one by my 2 year old running up to me and my 5 year old posing in the background. I literally cracked up laughing when I saw this pic on my computer after downloading it.

So Kendra's 04 gt looks great, but it still has a few swirl marks and a few deep marks. The compound im use doesn't cut like i want it to. So what do you think i should do and or use. I found this http://www.meguiarsdirect.com/product_detail.do?q=4807. What do you detail guys think?